A federal judge in Lynchburg ruled yesterday that the Virginia Military Institute's 50-year tradition of praying before dinner is unconstitutional, marking the second time in five years that the school has been ordered to stop one of its time-honored practices.
In a 35-page decision, U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon called the ceremony a "state-sponsored religious exercise" in violation of the First Amendment separation of church and state.
"Because the prayers are drafted and recited at the direction of the Institute's Superintendent, the result is that government has become impermissibly entangled with religion," Moon wrote.
The American Civil Liberties Union had filed suit against the state-financed school in May on behalf of two cadets, Neil Mellen and Paul Knick.
Rebecca Glenberg, one of the ACLU attorneys, said that even though VMI is a special school, it cannot ignore its students' rights. "The judge took a very traditional approach to the First Amendment," she said. "The court has acknowledged that the school's constitutional obligations are the same as any other state school."
But Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore (R), whose office represents the school, said he would appeal Moon's ruling. "These prayers are part of VMI's educational program and are precisely the sort of prayers recited in the United States Military, on ships at sea each night, and before lunch at the United States Naval Academy," Kilgore said in a statement. He said that no one is required to participate in the prayers and that banning them goes beyond the Constitution's intent.
For nearly three generations, students at VMI, based in Lexington, have been required to stand at attention after marching together into the mess hall. Cadets must stand, hands at their sides, while a "cadet chaplain" – a student picked by the chaplain's office -- recites a prayer that invokes God, without any mention of Jesus. There are different prayers for each day of the week except Saturday, when dinner is less formal, school officials said.
But the ACLU argued that requiring students to be present for a prayer that invokes God's name violates the First Amendment. They said VMI cadets should be afforded the same protections that prevent prayer at elementary and high schools.
VMI students are not required to bow their heads or recite the prayer during the exercise, but several students have said in court papers that the prayer is heavy-handed.
VMI argued that the institution is separate and apart from other state institutions, as it tries to groom "citizen-soldiers." The school argued that the prayers are "non-religious" in nature and serve an educational purpose.
This is the second time that one of VMI's hallowed traditions has been deemed unconstitutional. The college didn't accept women until the Supreme Court mandated coeducation in 1996. VMI's first class of female cadets graduated last year.
Mellen, a senior, said he has received a mixed reaction from his classmates since he brought the lawsuit. Several, he said, are concerned that he was unnecessarily tinkering with school traditions.
"Students will still be able to pray privately at dinner if they want," Mellen said in an interview. "Prayer would be much more meaningful that way, without being told from the school that they must do it."